Morning Bell: The System is Failing

Conn Carroll / January 04, 2010

This past weekend the American public learned that not only was the Obama administration briefed about the bombing technique attempted on Flight 253, not only did the United States have information that a Nigerian was being prepared for a terrorist attack by al Qaeda in Yemen, but our government also knew that an “Umar Farouk” was involved.

Following these revelations, the Obama administration again took to the Sunday shows to defend their national security record. Last week Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano tried to convince Americans that “the system worked”. She failed. This Sunday, Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan did admit that the system failed on Christmas Day but still insisted: “Every other day the system has worked this year….The system is working.”

No, it is not. The complete failure of the Obama administration to connect the dots on the Flight 253 bomber was not an isolated incident. On June 2nd of this year, Adulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, upset about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, shot and killed one soldier and wounded another while they were standing outside a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas. And on November 5th, Nidal Malik Hasan, also upset about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others. And on December 10th, five young men, all Muslim extremists from Northern Virginia, were arrested in Pakistan at the home of a man linked to a radical jihadist group. (more…)